Mexican Plants Involved in Glucose Homeostasis and Body Weight Control: Systematic Review

• Published in: Nutrients 2023-04, Vol.15 (9), p.2070
• Main Authors: Torres-Vanda, Montserrat, Gutiérrez-Aguilar, Ruth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beta cells; Bioactive compounds; Biological products; Blood; Blood Glucose; Blood sugar; Body Weight; body weight control; Coriandrum; Cucurbita; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diseases; Glucose; glucose homeostasis; Glucose tolerance; Health problems; Health services; Herbal medicine; Homeostasis; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; In vivo methods and tests; Insulin; Insulin secretion; Medicinal plants; Medicine; Medicine, Botanic; Medicine, Herbal; Metabolism; Mexico; Obesity; Obesity - drug therapy; Overweight; Plant extracts; Public health; Review; Reviews; Secretion; Seeds; Systematic review; Type 2 diabetes; Weight control
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu15092070

Obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation, provoking many different diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic-degenerative disease characterized by increased blood glucose levels. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are currently considered public health problems, and their prevalence has increased over the last few years. Because of the high cost involved in the treatment of both diseases, different alternatives have been sought. However, the general population uses medicinal plants, in the form of tea or infusions, to treat different diseases. Therefore, traditional medicine using medicinal plants has been investigated as a possible treatment for type 2 diabetes and body weight control. The purpose of this review is to find medicinal plants used in Mexico that could exert their beneficial effect by regulating insulin secretion and body weight control. For the development of this review, Mexican plants used in traditional medicine to treat type 2 diabetes and body weight control were searched in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus. The inclusion criteria include plants that presented a significant reduction in blood glucose levels and/or an increase in insulin secretion. We found 306 Mexican plants with hypoglycemic effects. However, plants that did not show evidence of an increase in insulin secretion were eliminated. Finally, only five plants were included in this review: L. ( ), ( ), L. ( ), Mill. ( ) ( ), including 39 articles in total. Here, we summarized the plant extracts (aqueous and organic) that have previously been reported to present hypoglycemic effects, body weight control, increased secretion and sensitivity of insulin, improvement of pancreatic β cells, and glucose tolerance. Additionally, these effects may be due to different bioactive compounds present in the plants' extracts. Both in vivo and in vitro studies are required to understand the mechanism of action of these plant extracts regarding insulin secretion to be used as a possible treatment for type 2 diabetes and body weight control in the future.